The Inca's Gold
by TheMothership14
Summary: 'Abandoned' 83 years ago, Bella has a chance run in with the Cullens in Canada. However, things have changed; Bella has become a leading guard member and has zero interest in the Cullens. But a mission is a mission, right? Add to it 3 lovely surprises and things are bound to be interesting. And what does all of this have to do with the Incas?
1. The Prologue

**Heaven and Hell:**

" **Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it."**

 **-Any Rand**

Heaven

Hell

Heaven

Hell

Elysium

Pandemonium

Celestial

Gehenna

Ecstasy

Desolation

Oh how can the world change completely in twenty-four hours? I mean, I have heard people talk about their worlds being toppled 'upside down' but this was… Words fail to describe how dramatically my life changed in 1440 minutes, 86400 seconds, you get the deal.

Waking up that day - I believe it was a Tuesday, clouded as well - I found myself in the beautiful arms of my girlfriend. Thinking back to that day, it makes me smile **dumbfounded** Every. Single. Time. I mean, that woman could kiss! And hit the sheets… Once my eyes opened, looking into the warm orbits of gold, every muscle aching from the previous night's 'activity', I felt complete. Whole. One. Indestructible. Oh how wrong I was. It took but twenty-four hours for my personal hell to begin.

1440 minutes

86400 seconds

8.64e+7 milliseconds

8.64e+10 microseconds

8.64e+13 nanoseconds

One question remained: why? 

" **Time is the longest distance between two places."**

 **-Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie**


	2. Chapter 1 - Gone

**Author's note:**

Thank's for reading! As a quick note, I began writing this over two years ago and, consequently, picked it up and dropped it multiple times. Hence, the style of writing will vary throughout a chapter up until approx. Chapter 4. First time writer, so any tips greatly appreciated! Hope you enjoy it and welcome to the ride. One final note, I work full-time and only write when I feel like it. As such, there might be longer periods of no updates - just fyi 

**Chapter 1 - Gone:**

" **In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present."**

 **\- Sir Francis Bacon**

Wednesday morning. My alarm clock was blaring the newest hit of Flo Rida 'Low,' I woke up to a surprise - no golden orbits to look into nor the characteristic cold arms holding me. Not that they were freezing cold. Rather, the vampire's 'normal' temperature was around twenty degrees Celsius on a day-to-day basis. It does increase when hunting, aroused, or in fighting mode, albeit only by a couple of degrees. Carlisle once explained it as a way for the venom to flow through the blood-arteries quicker, heightening the already acute senses. Comparable to adrenaline pumping through our veins. So where was my Popsicle?

Trying not to worry, which was a constant companion of mine coupled with mild impatience - ok, not so mild after all - I jumped into the shower. The bathroom was adjacent to my bedroom, a situation vastly appreciated. Who doesn't want to have the luxury to use the bathroom without fearing certain 'noises' making themselves known throughout the house or being able to leave their used clothes scattered around the floor? The only downfall was that it was an added room to clean but heck, it was totally worth the extra effort. Following a nice scrub of the body and shaving my legs for the third day consecutively without cutting (hurray!), I got dressed in a dark blue pair of jeans and a V-neck sweater that had cats in space plastered all over it. Jup, I am a cat lover. Their individualism and sense of proud always made the affection of a cat so much more rewarding than from a dog. Who wants millions of germs licked all over their face on a regular basis?! Nope, I'll stay with my feline queens.

Following my brief breakfast consisting of some chocolate cereal with almond milk, I practically ran outside and was treated with emptiness. Dumbfounded I stood in my empty driveway. Call me a princess but where was my carriage? Ever since Alice and I got together, she has without missing a single day picked me up to drive to school. But my driveway was Alice-less. Confusion flashed across my face and then fear begun to spread through me.

" _Calm down Bella. Stop being so dramatic. Plus, no one of the Cullen's is your driver nor are you entitled to a daily ride to school,_ " I told myself. Looks like I can take my monster of a truck to school again. Affectionately dubbed 'the Beast' for its inner qualities, the truck was rustier than the original orange color. While reaching fifty miles per hour was a stretch and the Beast sputtered dangerously, it never failed to deliver me almost always on time. I jumped into my seat and brought it to life.

" _I really wonder where Alice is? I mean, no text, no call, no message, no nothing?,"_ I thought. An uneasiness has firmly settled itself in my stomach since this morning and continued to magnify.

" _Relax! She will be at school. I am sure it is nothing."_ The sentence went through my mind on a continuous loop, trying to calm down my nerves. The radio station decided that thirty minutes have passed since we have heard the newest single of Britney Spears and begun paying 'Piece of Me' again. Honestly, is there a maximum of ten songs they are allowed to play on a day?! Switching to my iPod, I pulled up one of the good old oldies: 'We Will Rock You' from Queen. Head-bumping I backed out of my driveway and speeded off to Forks High School.

Not that I am keen on school. When I moved from Phoenix, Arizona back to Forks it was the sixth time in my 'education career'. Following my parents split, the court decided that it would be in the interest of the child to live with the mother, the rationale being that having given birth, a mother was more protective and in sync with its child. Those were terrible months. Reminiscent, I let the conversation play through my head while taking a left down Amelia Avenue.

" _Child, do you know who I am?" A tall man with razor-short hair questioned me briskly. There was no concern or affection in his voice. He had blue eyes with a hint of grey on the outlines of the irises. Despite crouching down, he still towered over me, his demeanor screaming 'run' to me._

" _You are my protector," I quietly whispered. I was six at that time and just came home from playing with the Black children Jacob and Raina over at La Plush when I was pushed into my chair in front of the man. "Mommy and Daddy said you will help me be happy."_

" _Is that so?" His eyes narrowed, staring intently at me. I could not prevent a whimper escaping my lips._

" _Daddy, I am scared," tears starting to form in my eyes. I turned to my left, searching for the strong arms of my father. They have never failed to protect me, whether it was the boys roughly pushing me on the playground, the monsters under my bed, or the goat in the petting zoo taking a liking in me. Coming off of a double-shift as a police officer, he was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. With his five-hour shadow and slightly pink eyes he was distraught by the ordeal the court has ordered his only child through. His heart broke for the small brown eyes looking at him, seeking comfort from this cold-hearted bastard of a man._

" _Oh honey, every-" Charlie began but was abruptly interrupted by my tormentor._

" _Mr. Swan, please refrain from influencing your child against its mother." The tension of the room reached the electricity of a thunderstorm. Tears started rolling down my cheeks when the man continued "it is clear to me that you have tried to rally Isabella up and-."_

" _I have not!" Charlie replied back, his voice interlaced with the anger of a protective father. Slumping into my chair, tears freely flowed down my face. With each sob, snob blew up out of my left nostril. He defensively straightened his back. Crossing his arms in front of his body, he glared at the man. Resolve and anger were shining in his eyes in combination with a sense of protectiveness. Locking eyes with me, Charlie flashed me a smile that was aimed to calm me down. But it didn't reach his eyes and I could see worry written across his whole face._

" _Mr. Swan, I must ask you to step outside." That was too much for Charlie._

" _DADDYY!" I screamed when two men tackled him to the floor. I tried running to him only to be caught in the arms of my torturer. My mother - no my egg donor - scoped me up from my seat._

" _I hereby order full custody to-." I no longer heard the rest when I was briskly taken outside my home, hearing the wails of my beloved father behind me._

" _BELLAA." The painful cry reminiscent of a dying, tormented animal echoed out of the house and ingrained themselves into my mind. My heart tore into two and it took almost eleven years until I was reunited with my father._

A single tear rolled down my cheek, similar to those silly movie scenes. _"Bloody hell"_ I thought to myself while taking a swift left turn, nearly missing my exit due to my reminiscent mind. Yanking the car around the corner, I saw the pride of the town appear at the end of the road - Forks High School. For a town with a population of 20,000 people, the High School was fairly big. Consisting of three rather large buildings, the school was divided along basic academic lines: the first one contained the humanities subjects such as History and Geography; the sciences and mathematics subjects were taught in the second building; in the last building language classes were held. It also contained the cafeteria and the gym - shudder. Every year I end up breaking at least one bone and my sprained ankles fill an entire folder of medical notes in the nurse's office.

The school was surrounded on two sides by a pine forest, which was where I ended up parking my car.

" _Huh,"_ I thought. I was increasingly impatient following what I saw in the parking lot - or rather the lack thereof. _"Where are the rolling gold coaches?"_

The Cullen's were not exactly the average American household. Besides the obvious - vampires duh - they have a portfolio rivaling many countries across the world. They single handedly could buy up a handful of countries in Africa. It helps to have a psychic, a mind reader and an empath in the family. These three combined have enabled their coven to live a life of luxury, including a massive mansion on the outskirts of town. This extended to the cars, or rather carriages they drove. On a normal day, the parking lot was full of beat-down third generation cars that one could hear a mile away and in the left-hand corner were two rolling gold bricks of cars. But today there were none.

" _Did they all run to school today?"_ That was unlike them; being a vampire among humans meant they had to act as one as well, including their pace and lifestyle. Hence, the daily drive to school although they were much faster running.

My stomach started clenching and a small clump formed in the back of my throat. No Alice next to me when I woke up, no message or note from her, no one to pick her up this morning, and finally no cars at school.

" _What on earth is going on today?_ " I quickly pulled out my phone to check the weather app, just in case the forecast said sunny. No such luck; it was even supposed to rain and thunder later today. "Hopefully I do not have to scratch the ice of my windshield for half an hour after class" I thought until quickly deciding to wait outside until I had to head inside for German class. I couldn't even curse Frau Schmetterling for turning my love for the German language into a living hell.

Lost in my own thoughts swirling in my head, I leaned against my Beast. Standing like a flamingo, my left leg was pulled up and my foot pressed against the driver's door of my car. To an outsider I must have looked like a statue. My eyes were fixated on the entrance to the parking lot, expecting to see an expensive car pull in at any second. After five minutes my thick winter coat no longer kept the cold outside. It felt like it blew right through my body. It wouldn't surprise me if a layer of ice has buildup on my left side.

"Hiya." I jumped into the air, pulling my arms and legs protectively around my body. Resembling a turtle with deer eyes in the headlights, I briefly saw Angela's face until my ass found the icy parking lot.

"Oh Bella… I'm...so...sorry," Angela pushed through her teeth in between sharp intakes of air. It must have been quite a sight as I heard snorts and giggles from all directions of the parking lot.

"Yeez! Are you trying to give me a heart attack Ange?" I huffed from ground level. Looking up I saw the color changes on my friend's face. Pink cheeks turned into a dark red head. My friend was slowly turning into a lobster! So embarrassing. "Why does this constantly happen to me?" I am the family klutz and have regular 'incidents.' Hospitals and doctors' visits have become my second home, meaning that Renee swiftly placed me on health insurance. Initially happy to take on a child so young, the insurance company quickly realized their mistake and has since sought every legal and some other shady ways of exiting the policy. At least my egg donor was good for at least one thing.

I felt a blush creep up my neck, trying to blossom on my cheeks. Another one of my 'bodily functions' I would gladly change for something cooler such as no blushing. God, I hated this part of my body. Anything mildly uncomfortable made me rival Angela's lobster face, although she was entering a dark shade of a ripe tomato now. In slow motion, she dropped to her knees and rolled onto her side. Tears were streaming down her tomato face. Turning to her, I began giggling as well, taking in her red face. After a couple of seconds, I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable by the attention direct at our little show and hoped this would not become topic number one of the school's gossip round. Feeling more and more uneasy with my situation, I began shifting on the floor and then

"Wet." The semi-screamed sentence pulled me out of my embarrassment and I practically jumped to my feet. At least I tried to. The sudden try to stand on the snow was followed by me slipping instantly and contacting the snow for a rendezvous. This time I landed face first and the piercing coldness startled me. Round two of me trying to escape my enemy was thankfully a success. Holding onto my truck, I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge wet bum staring back at me. My denim jeans were soaked and a shiver ran through me.

"Fuckingtastic" I thought to myself. "Hopefully I do not get sick… No need for that shit."

"Bella" a very out of breath Angela whisper-breathed at me. Looking back at her, she raised a hand to me. It took me a second to realize that the person who caused my butt to feel like ice was asking for my help. And I obviously helped her up. I was raised properly, helping a person in need.

"Thanks Bella. I act-." Angela's reply was cut short when I pulled her to my left while she tried getting up. And as graciously as I did two minutes ago, she landed face first in the snow. The impact was rewarded with a 'umpf' from her body and a sigh from the human.

Doubling over from the absurd situation in front of me, I smirking stated that "revenge is a dish best served cold."

"Ha Ha Bella." Angela pushed herself on her knees and used the back tire of my truck to pull herself to her feet. And then 'crack' she twisted left and right, effectively cracking her vertebrae. I cringed and drew a disgusted face. I disliked this sound deeply but Ange maintains that it not only felt good but there was no harm done to her body, which I doubt despite the bombardment of scientific articles send my way. The sound was simply too unnerving for me. She knew how much I disliked her doing that and maintains to 'desensitize' on a daily basis. Truly working wonders...

"Ready for some Deutsch mein Fräulein?" She asked, moving her head towards the building number three. Just then the five-minute warning bell rang.

"Ugh, not really. I mean, who has us write a test within days of returning from Christmas Break?" She sure had a sense of humor.

"I know" was the reply from Ange. With another head movement we began walking towards our classroom, making sure to avoid as many icy spots as possible on the parking lot. Moving at a snail's speed towards the entrance door, it took us over two minutes to cross the forty yards long parking lot. Entering our classroom's building, we were hit with a heat that would put Florida out of business. Being wrapped up in thick winter coats made sweat break out within seconds. A small 'uff' came from my left where Angela aimed to remove her multiple layers of clothing as fast as possible. The emphasis is on trying.

"Hey honey, let me help you," a voice said in front of us. A tall boy with short black hair approached us, with a grin from ear to ear. Ben Cheney, Angela's boyfriend of now 7 weeks, 5 days, and 16 hours (yes, she counted…), swaying made his way towards us. Wearing long dark jeans and blue sweater, he was dressed very similar to Angela. She wore black pants with a long-sleeved t-shirt with her favorite band 'Within Temptation' on it. The shirt has become one of her prized possessions following their concert in Seattle two months ago. Following the untangling of Ange's coat from her body, we all chatted on our way towards class.

"So, Bella, where is your better half?" Ben inquired from my right with Angela between both of us. And that when it hit me that the Cullen's STILL have not arrived at school. Furrowing my eyebrows, I scanned the hallways looking for anyone of them. Hell, I would have even taken the ever-scowling Rosalie at the moment.

"I- I-, argh, I don't know," I tremblingly said. This wasn't good. Reaching into the depths of my pockets, I pulled out my phone and nothing - nada - nope.

"Oh, well," Ben stated surprised. I was ready to spin out of control and run back outside, Ange placed her hand on my arm. She was talking along the lines of "don't worry Bella" and "they will be here soon" but I wasn't listening. My thoughts raced around my head, trying to make sense of the lack of contact from them. It was so unlike them that I felt hyperventilating. Angela has moved her hand to my back, trying to calm me down by rubbing circles into it while simultaneously move me in the direction of our classroom. We arrived in the nick of time, earning us a stern glare from Frau Schmetterling but I didn't care. My thoughts were back at the Cullen's, trying to come up with a rational and non-panic-attack-inducing reason for their lack of presence today.

With a humpf I practically fell into my seat in the back row, sitting next to Eric Yorkie while Ben and Angela sat in the row before us. Eric was a slim, black-haired boy with a boyish-face that meant he had to present an ID whenever we wanted to see a more 'mature' movie at the theaters. Looks like he could finally grow a mustache, albeit only scarcely. Nevertheless, it has become one of his proudest moments in life and he regularly reminded us.

"Morning guys!" his slightly high-pitched voice whispered.

"Morning," both Ange and Ben chimed, while I barely acknowledged his greeting being caught up in my own thoughts and worries.

Eric eyed me curiously. While I am not one for constant chit-chat, I have grown into an outspoken person since the Cullen's entered my life. Sophomore and Junior year of my High School career in Forks has seen me be a still observer of life. My friends knew that I was a friend of few words but at the beginning of Senior year it abruptly changed with the vampires arriving. Spending time with them has rubbed on me, becoming more confident in myself and opening up to my friends. Consequently, Eric raised his left eyebrow at me. Ben and Angela then inserted that the Cullen's weren't here. With that revelation, he twisted his body towards me, opening his mouth to say.

"Guten Morgen Klasse!" making me jump in my seat. Frau Schmetterling's voice raised in pitch and strength got the attention of the whole class sans me. Throwing a glare at her, I uneasily shifted in my chair to focus my eyes on the open classroom door, hoping for any of the pale-skinned family to pass by and, thus, calming my nerves.

"Please open your book _Der Prozess_ to Chapter five. Eric, will you please begin reading," our teacher opened the lecture. Struck by lightning, he looked at her with a shocking expression: no one liked making a fool of themselves by reading a book in a language that was surely created to give learners a headache. Mechanically, I reached for my backpack and opened my book but didn't really pay attention. Eric had slowly begun reading the chapter while Frau Schmetterling interrupted him on a regular basis to correct his pronunciation. Following five minutes of oral torture - he barely finished half the page - when she took pity in him and called on another student to continue.

A long breath of relief came out of Eric beside me. With Frau Schmetterling's attention trained to the other side of the class, he whispered "no Cullen's?" I looked at him with fear twinkling in my eyes when

"RUHE!" If looks could kill, Eric sure would have been on life support the least. That woman was a demon, I am sure of it. However, it got the job done by refraining from even looking at each other throughout the class. My brain refused to follow the lecture and continuously played through multiple scenarios, one scarier than the other. Not paying attention cost me dearly when Frau Schmetterling abruptly called on me twice. German was getting close to P.E. for my most disliked class, but even her threatening to send me to detention did not draw my focus back to the verb conjugations on the whiteboard. I didn't even realize that class was over if it wasn't for Eric nudging me in the side with his elbow. Shaking my head finally kickstarted by body into action.

" _Surely Alice was waiting outside with a smirk on her face,"_ I thought to myself. Shoving my papers carelessly into the black backpack I essentially sprinted to the classroom door to find: nothing. Only warm-blooded, mortal humans pushing through the crowded school halls.

"Yo Bells! Everything alright?" came from behind me. Angela lightly grabbed my shoulders and pushed to the left. Apparently, I abruptly stopped and blocked the doorway. All the while I continued spinning my head left and right, praying for any deity that my pixie would hop towards me at any moment.

"Yes, No, well, err. I don't know Angela," I said shifting to look directly at her. I crossed my arms and shifted my weight from one leg to the other in a continuous cycle. I was beginning to unravel and turn into a nervous bundle. When did I lose my ability to function without them for more than a couple of hours? Right, the moment I met the Cullen family.

Warm arms wrapped around my shoulder. Angela saw all the signs of a mental breakdown in the making and tried to calm me down. My bottom lip already had a crack and I began drawing blood but that was the least of my concern.

"All will be fine Bella. I know it," Angela mumbled into my left ear. "I am sure that something must has gotten in their way and they will be here asap."

I sniffle escaped me before being stifled. Gosh I was pathetic. I can see my name replaced with cry-baby.

"I, just, like, I have been worrying since this morning. Like, you know that Alice has been picking me up almost every day since we started going out. And if she couldn't another one of her siblings would come by and today there was nothing. Not that she or her siblings were my drivers. Don't think that Angela, but I got so used to it and with no text or call I can't stop my brain spinning at 200 miles per hour and I just cannot continue and…."

"Calm down Bella," Angela broke my rambling. Looks like my English language skills have gone through the window as well this morning. "I know you worry Bella," she said pulling away from me a bit, looking me straight in the eyes. "But I am sure - no I know that Alice will show up sooner than later."

Clearly, I didn't look to convinced and she continued: "look, I see how you look at her. It is quite endearing and heartwarming and she has the exact look on her face when she sees you. I promise you Bella, Alice would be the last person standing you up or trying to mess with you on this level." Sincerity showed in her eyes and her soothing voice was beginning to calm my nerves. Taking in a deep, cleansing breath I nodded to her and we began our walk to our next class - Calculus. Wednesdays was my least favorite day of the week. All the classes I despise decided to show up on that day. Beginning with German, the day was followed by Calculus, Biology, Physics, only to end with Physical Education. Essentially, Wednesday's tested my patience on every level.

Making our way through the hallways towards the exit with Angela on my left and Eric on my right, we ran right into the resident gossip girl Lauren Mallory. Tall, skinny, and blonde made her one of the popular girls in Forks High and she decided to capitalize on the attention directed at her. Her parents were both relatively well-known (especially in a small town as Forks) as good lawyers. Her father was a criminal attorney while her mother dealt with social cases. Normally that would mean that intelligence should be passed at least somewhat down to their children but apparently, they skipped Lauren. Her younger brother by five years had shown promise as a mathematician and was attending boarding school in England. Attention, thus, centered on Lauren solely and both parents never failed to spoil her. Together with Jessica Stanley she made up the 'Forks Bitch Club.'

"Hey Albino Klutz." _"Gosh are they ever going to let it go?"_ A couple weeks back I spontaneously decided to have a carton of milk with my lunch. Setting my plate down, I crossed the cafeteria again to get the carton. However, things didn't go so smoothly walking back to my seat. Instead I slipped out of nowhere, making me crash bum first only to have the milk come crashing down and spilling all over me. Since then the 'Bimbo Club' has not failed to make a regular mentioning of it.

Rolling my eyes, I tried to pass Lauren but she proceeded to block my way.

"What?" Not that Lauren was taken aback the least by my accusing tone. _"This woman! What is wrong with her?"_

"What happened to Dr. Cullen?" the nasal voice of Lauren asked.

"Huh?" The question took me by surprise, expecting something along the lines of belittling my relationship with Alice.

"Like, come on klutz. Where is he? Why isn't he here today? I mean, how dare he cancel my appointment and refer me to another doctor. Like seriously?! Does he know who I am? Whatever is keeping him away from the hospital is not important enough. His secretary said he is on indefinite leave but-"

"Wait, hold on. What do you mean with 'his secretary said he is on indefinite leave'?" What on earth was happening? Carlisle has never missed a work day.

Lauren briefly looked smug. _"Great. Now she thinks she is special. I have no time for these games."_

"Lauren, what do you mean?!" My voice grew in volume and anger. I took a step towards her, moving into her personal space, conveying that I was not having any of her games today. "LAUREN!" Desperation. I was desperate for her to answer my question. And she was playing games with me. " _What was so bad that Carlisle cancelled his appointments? Oh my god! ALICE!"_

"Calm down left foot." The smirk now fully broke onto her face. Before I could through a threat her way she gracefully continued: "according to her he called in this morning cancelling all of his appointments. Rumor has it that he even left the hospital all together."

All that color left in my face completely drained. Like a deer in headlights, I stood rigidly and stared. No breathing, no moving, nothing. Just blank. My worst fear is swirling around my head: abandonment. And Alice. Nothing else matters. So, I ran. I bolted out of the school building, barely making it in one piece to my truck and slammed my foot down on the accelerator.

" _No. No. No. This can't be happening. They wouldn't just leave me. Alice."_ These thoughts circled my head and her face. Those beautiful golden eyes with a hint of green around the iris. I always lost myself in them.

" **A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ."**

 **\- John Steinbeck**


	3. Chapter 2 - Emptiness

**Chapter 2 - Emptiness**

Another one from beg of 2017, if Google Doc is right. Just a quick scan for grammar and vocab. Peace! 

" **If I am what I have, and if I lose what I have, who, then, am I?"**

 **\- Erich Fromm**

Three weeks. It has been three weeks since I last saw them. A shower ran down my spine.

 _Why_

The word has entered my mind again. I shook my head. As if this would change anything…

I was lying on my bed in my pajamas despite being awake since 6 am. It is not like I have places to be or things to do. That stopped three weeks ago. I barely remember how I got home that day. From what my father told me, I stayed at the Cullen's mansion for 8 hours. After taking off in the middle of school, Angela got worried when I all her phone calls remained unanswered. At the end of the school day, she ended up calling Charlie at the Sheriff's Office and a search party was sent out. Night had already fallen until someone had the idea to search the Cullen's mansion thoroughly, which is when they found me curled up on the floor in Alice's room.

" _Sheriff, I found her." The voice was faintly in the background. Male I belief. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. The emptiness was omnipresent and my heart clenched again at the implications of the empty room - they were gone._

 _Shouting ensued from the living room and heavy footsteps ran up the stairs._

" _Isabella! Thank god you are safe." It was Charlie. I recognized the voice but it was still distant. No one was here. There were no more tears running down my face. My body refused. I was dried out. What remained were my puffy cheeks and swollen, red eyes._

 _Strong arms were placed under my curled body and slowly lifted me up. Turning my head towards the chest area, I saw and simultaneously did not see Charlie. I did see him as the person picking me up but anything besides the raw exterior was a mystery. My thoughts were squarely centered on my loss, my nightmare, my hell._

I became a shadow of myself. I didn't eat at all for the first three days until my stomach protested viciously and I gorged down a whole pizza but that did not stay there for long. Subsequently, I lost 15 pounds of body weight. Charlie was so worried that he got in contact with a Psychologist in Port Angeles who specialized in eating disorders, depression, and PTSD. Following the first consultation, it took my dad nearly 20 minutes to prevent her from institutionalizing me due to a severe suicide threat. And she wasn't wrong. I was hollow inside and the question of life and it's worth living popped up a number of times in my head. Somehow, I knew that Alice wasn't dead. Call me insane but I would have felt it, right? Maybe it was to maintain my own sanity to picture a 'happily ever after' where Alice and the rest of her family would come back.

Angela, bless her heart, came by almost every day to see me. Since I was in no mental state to handle the mundane activities of the day let alone school, she took it upon herself to visit me. It pained me greatly to see her, reminding me of what I have lost and the first days I broke down crying on her shoulder. _"Why can't it be_ _her_ _?! Oh why?"_ ran through my head while she was rubbing my back. Those shirts saw tons of tears and even bits of snot - I know, embarrassing - but I didn't find the energy in myself to mumble more than an apology to her.

We fell into a comfortable rhythm: Ange would sit opposite of me on my bed and describe the day-to-day events while I would listen to her, somewhat. More often than not the voice of Ange would quickly turn into a humming voice in the background of my mind. Little did I remember or even process the stories she told, hugging my knees to my chest and drifting into a sort of lullaby, but she never complained. _"What an amazing friend,"_ I thought. " _I do not deserve her. It is not like I was a friend in its real sense."_ My heart began thumping again and tears rolled down my cheeks.

I didn't want to go down the spiral again and focused back on the ceiling, studying all of the small bumps in the white paint, while breathing in through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. The calming technique was one of the sole benefits from seeing the therapist. It helped me reign in my racing heart. Three minutes later, the galloping had calmed down to a slow trot.

" _At least she is good for something_ ," went through my head. The rest of her 'advice' was rather useless. Initially she was open to the depths of sorrow and pain I felt from the ' _situation_.' Trying to bond, she told me how she found her fiancé in bed with another woman. The devastation, the anger, the fear she experienced in that moment and how it took her months to regain her footing. But what that had to do with me was still puzzling to me. _"What is she talking about?"_ Were my thoughts when the therapist delved into the story in our third session. Not only did it have little to do with my situation, it felt like she was placing pressure on me. Along the lines: "you will/have to get better." What on earth does she know of my situation?

The sessions became more and more uncomfortable for me. The therapist was trying to push me to open up to her. To discuss my most inner thoughts and feelings but that was alien to me. Since they left me; since that night of pain. I was lonely and left with no protection. _Why?_ The question never left me alone. How could I open up to the therapist? _"Dr. Hugglebee. A family, well, more accurately a coven of vampires took me in and I fell in love the Alice. But no worries! They were vegetarians aka only fed on animals, hence I was completely safe with them. Except for Jasper maybe; he is the newest edition to the coven and he still struggles with his bloodlust. Oh, and he can feel and influence everyone's emotions. You see, some vampires have special talents - Edward could read people's minds, Jasper could feel and influence one's emotions, and Alice had precognition - she could see the future!_ That would have gone down pretty well with the therapist...

Sigh. All this pain. Nothing else was there. Only pain. And nausea. Wait, nausea?!

" _Oh Shit!"_ I jumped out of my bed and ran to my adjacent bathroom, barely arriving at the toilet in time. " _Lovely…"_

" **Light thinks it can travel faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."**

 **\- Terry Pratchett**


	4. Chapter 3 - Holy Mary

**Chapter 3: Holy Mary**

Another one written about a year ago. Only did a quick readthrough and checked for basic spelling and grammar. Thanks for everyone reading :)

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" **The prostitute is not, as feminists claim, the victim of men, but rather their conqueror, an outlaw, who controls the sexual channels between nature and culture."**

 **\- Camille Paglia**

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" _Rainy Forks, what a surprise_." I was sitting on my bed, looking outside my window. Fog was creeping over the ground of our driveway while the rain pattered against the glass. It wasn't raining heavily this morning but more than what one would generally describe as a drizzle. In the tree lines that marked the beginning of the Forks forest I could hear birds chirping softly, greeting the morning sun that was beginning to show its face. The first shades of red and orange were floating over the tree lines. " _Everything looks so peaceful at six am,"_ I thought to myself, absentmindedly stroking my stomach.

Yeah, well that was a fucking surprise. Following my run for the toilet nearly a week ago, I was hit with a wave of nausea for the next couple of days in the wee hours of the morning. The toilet almost saw me more than my bed, which was saying something as I practically lived in it. Initially I blamed it on a stomach flu going around. But then my appetite came back and not in a normal way. I mean, pickles with Nutella…?! Not just that, I began craving meat again. Like a lot. I gave up meat when I was around 8 years old after I saw a documentary on TV concerning animal farming in the US. I cried for days and no coaxing or threats by Renee would change my opinion. No. More. Meat! But now, after more than 10 years of abstention its by-products (such as gelatin), I was hardcore craving a raw, bloody chunk of steak. Blue rare to be specific. Hot and crispy on the outside while cold and bloody on the inside. No other meat. It had to be beef and to have barely touched the hot pan, leaving the center cold and bloody. It was very 'Stone Age-y.' That was when my suspicion kicked in.

Everyone woman had a fear of unwanted pregnancy. Even when there had been no 'activities' in the previous weeks. 'Hopefully I am not the next Mary.' Jup, she was a virgin and got pregnant through the touch of the Holy Spirit and if it could happen once, it could again - right? Especially following that _incident_. A shudder ran down my spine whenever _it_ popped back into my memory. As if the abandonment by my second family wasn't already breaking me emotionally and physically. No, _IT_ had to break into my room just days after my beloved Alice. My worst nightmares came to life.

And there was nothing I could do about both. You think you have hit rock bottom with the out-of-the-blue abandonment by the Cullens but then add the violation of your very essence and safety. I barely coped already and now _this_. My nightmares took a turn to the more violent specter. It got so bad that the therapist prescribed me strong sleeping pills as I slipped into insomnia, fearing to fall asleep and having to relive the incident. But there was nothing I could do about it. I was in my own home, my room adjacent to my fathers who just so happened to be the Police Chief. It was evident the next morning that he didn't hear anything. The physical evidence was there. The inside of my thighs was covered in yellowish, purple marks with two straight scared lines on my left side. Aside from that, there was no other physical evidence of what happened. No broken window, no blood or other substances, no witnesses. Only haunting memories.

I got weary when I threw up the first time but attributed it to my weight loss. The same went for the break in my menstrual cycle. Heavy weight loss can lead to a stop in your regular 'Shark Week', right? Bundles of hair marred the floor of my bathroom and my pillow, another side-effect of my weight loss, which was making it easier to push any pregnancy thought to the back of my mind, albeit they never fully left. Once my cravings picked up I couldn't ignore my nagging fear and left my house after weeks of voluntary solitary confinement.

 _Charlie left for work at seven o'clock in the morning. Like the German philosopher Kant, you could almost adjust your watch to his departure, he was THAT timely. I have been lying in bed awake now for a couple of hours and closely listened for the starting of an engine and the crunching of tiers of the cruiser pulling out of our driveway. A couple of minutes ago, Charlie quietly opened my door and looked at my back for a couple of seconds. Not that I was caught off guard; our old staircase had a life of itself and made it nearly impossible to move between the different levels without squeaking. I heard a sigh behind me and my door was closed again._

 _My whole situation was very hard on my father. He had lost me once already and I could see the fear and hurt in his eyes whenever I catch his eyes. I know his heart ached alongside mine, pained by the deep depression and ghost-like state of my mind. And guilt. Although I never blamed him for me not growing up with him in Forks. That was squarely on the shoulders of my mother and those bastards of the so-called justice system of this lovely country. It took many years of legal battles and me reaching an age where adults finally began acknowledging my views for Charlie to be 'allowed' back into my life. It took another year and me reaching the age of sixteen to finally convince the court to let me make my own decisions and I promptly moved back to Forks. Despite the somewhat happy ending my father was still ridden with guilt for not having been able to live with him earlier. But I do not blame him. Never have, never will._

 _Once I could no longer hear the cruiser, I waited another five minutes just to be safe. That turned into three painstakingly slow minutes until I jumped out of bed and into the shower. I started the shower and undressed while the water was beginning to heat up. Looking down past my breasts I saw a small pouch. Normal for a woman but not when one could simultaneously count a number of my ribs. I looked into the mirror and turned sideways. And there it was. A small bump. Small enough to be easily hid behind a big t-shirt or sweater but there none the less._

 _Shaking my head at the implications of said bump, I got under the shower. Within ten minutes I was fully dressed and made my way down to the kitchen. Grabbing to slices of toast, I pulled out the peanut butter and smeared it on them. Then I sliced a banana onto the toast, concentrating fairly hard for the task at hand as I did not want to cut myself - again. Leaving the kitchen with my breakfast in hand I sat down on the couch. Taking small bites at a time I played through multiple scenarios in my head concerning the task ahead._

' _Breath in. Breath out,' became my mental mantra for the day. 'In and out.'_

 _I finished my breakfast much too fast for my taste as it meant I could no longer avoid today's task. Drive to the big mall in Seattle and buy a/multiple pregnancy tests, and praying that I would not run into anyone I knew. Following the clean-up, I grabbed my keys, a jacket and an umbrella. Locking the front door, I swiftly walked towards my truck, which I haven't driven for four months. One of father's officers drove it over from the Cullen mansion to our house and Charlie, fearing that I might hurt myself intentionally, immediately confiscated the car keys. Luckily - for me at least - he wasn't the most creative in hiding things and it took me only ten minutes to find them in the cookie jar. I started the car and went on my way._

 _Deep in thought I arrived at the mall in no time. Getting out of the car and walking towards the pharmacy was hard but nothing in comparison to picking up the pregnancy tests and buying them. Multiple emotions went through me: humiliation, fear, anger, pain, panic. I walked - no I paced throughout the pharmacy, trying to come up with a plan to limit my embarrassment. 'Why didn't they have a self-checkout registrar,' I thought to myself, feeling my sense of flight slowly creeping all over me. I shivered, trying to calm myself down again. 'Breath in, breath out.'_

" _May I help you ma'am?"_

 _I jumped into the air, startled by the sudden voice behind me. Jumping forward and twisting around at the same time, I stabilized myself by holding onto the shelves to my left. As for my luck of recently, I had wandered into the 'feminine hygiene' aisle and I caused a three maxi pads' boxes to fall down to the floor._

 _In front of me was a black, middle-aged woman. Her hair was braided back and she wore glasses. Her hands were locked behind her back. She stood rather rigidly, with an almost perfectly straight back, and eyed me curiously. Her right eyebrow moved up her face a bit upon seeing my frazzled state of mind._

" _I, uhm, I - I, well, I mean, uh." I stammered these words out of my mouth, still on the edge from being startled by her. Protectively I put my hand on my stomach and angled my body a bit away from her. I lightly shook my head, trying to formulate a response to the lady's question._

" _My apologies ma'am. I did not intent to startle you. Again, I am very sorry," the sales lady spoke. I could see her gaze softening slightly and her eyes and voice conveyed the truthfulness of her words. It always intrigued me how much one could learn from body language itself, a talent I developed while still living with my mother and I had to anticipate her mood whenever I returned back from home._

" _Oh no. Please do not worry. I was simply lost in thought and I didn't hear you approaching me." I said, my pulse was beginning to calm down. "Thank you but no, I think I know what I want."_

 _Her eyes then fell onto my hand, which had rubbed small circles as a way to calm down the baby - that was the rational I came up with a couple of hours later to describe the action. My eyes widened with the realization that she realized what was going on and I abruptly stopped. 'Oh no, fuck me, no no no no no no,' I thought. I was on the verge of turning around and sprinting out of the pharmacy as fast as possible when her eyes all of the sudden softened and her stance noticeably relaxed._

" _It's okay." Her eyes visibly softened and an inviting smile appeared on her face. Somehow, I intuitively felt that she meant no harm. It was one of those rare moments where a person feels intrinsically trustworthy. Despite the feeling I my stomach, I was still worried that she would criticize me. Maybe she misread my situation._

" _They are in isle three, honey. Do you want me to come with you?" She spoke much softer now, looking at me with peacefulness and… Adoration? Really? I was confused and worried that my body was playing tricks on me. 'What am I supposed to do?' I thought. And why was she all of the sudden to nice to me?' I was running through potential plans of escaping the current situation._

" _You do not need to be afraid of me or worried, honey." She flashed a warm smile at me, which is when I realized I never responded to her earlier question. A blush begun creeping up on my cheeks and I looked away from her. 'Damn, what is wrong with you? Now you have made an even bigger fool of yourself.' I looked up again when the lady spoke again._

" _I have three children myself. My firstborn came completely out of the blue," she said and took a step closer to me. Her appearance just screamed kindness to me, which is when my mind conjured up an image of Esme. 'No, stop! Argh, I hate my mind.' I slightly shook my head. Upon realizing her puzzlement, it dawned upon me how my head-shaking must have appeared to her. Again, I looked away and I was sure my cheeks were taking on the color of a tomato._

" _You do not need to be embarrassed. In fact, I would at random have giggle attacks." She again flashed the warm smile of her's and again the warmth basically radiated off of her. I was slowly relaxing and the tension was leaving me body._

" _And I truly couldn't control them. The worst 'giggle attack' came when I was in a movie theatre with a group of friends." She took another step towards me while continuing with her story, "it was the recently released horror movie. The one where aliens invaded our bodies and used us as a 'breeding host'."_

 _I snorted when a picture of a green Mars man came into my mind, attached to our bodies._

" _Yeah, the idea was quite ridiculous." I sheepishly smiled at her, seeing as I interrupted her story. And that was rude. But it didn't appear to bother her the least and she moved closer to me._

" _Well, in that one scene the alien 'broke through' the person's chest and I know it was supposed to be a key, scary moment for the movie but the look on the man's face just threw over the railing." She chuckled lightly, reminiscing the past situation. "His eyes were so big, he looked like a frog. And once my mind made that link I just could not for the life of me stop laughing."_

My dad, bless his heart, was at first oblivious to the developments. Having his own bathroom down the hall, he was not aware of my frequent trips there in the morning hours. Following my first trip to the bathroom two months ago, my appetite began to show itself and from day to day my food intake increased, beginning with a slice of toasted bread and peanut butter. I remember him beaming at me with a smile from ear to ear when I ate at my own free will - the past weeks had been a daily struggle to get any form of nutrition into my body.

Besides my obvious loss of weight, my nutritional balance was mediocre at best. My doctor was very shocked and not only prescribed a handful of nutritional supplement tablets for me but insisted on having three IV sessions. Fuckingtastic, I must say. I hate needles and this was not your average fifteen seconds of blood-drawing but having the needle in your arm for a minimum of thirty minutes until the contents of the bag was in my system. I cringed just thinking back to these 'torture sessions' where I threw a tantrum that put other children' to shame. Besides Charlie the doctor had to call in two nurses and even the front desk receptionist to hold me down while they stabbed me with that torture device. We were in the 21st-century, I am sure we would have progressed beyond stabbing people for random reasons...

However, when I all of the sudden began eating meat and other random food combinations, even the man got suspicious. And that was one awkward discussion I never ever wanted to have in my life. Just thinking back to it made me cringe. I've known for two weeks prior to Charlie becoming suspicious and he brought home a pregnancy test (God knows how my introverted father obtained one without dying of embarrassment. He was outrightly petrified of anything feminine hygienic related, meaning the situation must have been ten times more awkward compared to my encounter). He even sat in front of the bathroom door and nothing I said could dissuade him from not having to take it. I submitted to the inevitable and brought back a positive test.

I handed it to him and without waiting for his response left through the backdoor and walked into the woods behind our house. Simply seeing his eyes bulge from the two lines on the applicator, which indicated it was positive, made my heart drop to my knees. ' _What if he hates me? What if he throws me out of the house and calls me a whore? How on earth am I supposed to explain the situation to him?'_ Me being worried was an understatement; it was one of the scariest situations of my life. Our family wasn't downright religious but teenage pregnancy? His nonchalant reaction to my outing gave me some hope that things maybe could work out.

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" **Let us consider that we are all insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles."**

 **\- Mark Twain**


	5. Chapter 4 - Reunion

**Chapter 4: Reunion**

" **Having a child, that's always been my biggest fear. I want a child and I fear a child."**

 **\- Marilyn Monroe**

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Some things change, while others stay the same. The pain of losing the love of my love and my second family was omnipresent. Almost every moment was spent thinking about them. But things do change, or 'progress' as my dickhead of a therapist would say. Next to my sadness, I was beginning to feel angry with the situation. ' _How could they simply abandon me like this? Did I mean nothing to them?'_ This would mean that I was played, which was the second half of my anger: it was directed at myself. How could I have become so dependent on these six people for my happiness? It made me feel weak in my own eyes and that was not good; I was and am one of my biggest critics.

I would begin going through the happier moments, not that there was little supply of those, with the Cullens and question every aspect. Did Esme really not mind cooking for me? Was Carlisle actually annoyed with my questions about vampires and the Volturi? Rosalie was probably the only truthful among them all, as she never held back her wariness of me. The more I went over these memories the angrier I got. ' _Gosh Bella, they simply played you.'_ But that was only one side of my mind games. The other one was waged by my heart. It simply couldn't fathom being abandoned. Would Alice have gone through all the trouble with her blood lust only to just leave? This also extended to the rest of the Cullens.

Feeling the stiffness of my joints from sitting on my windowsill, I grunted. Slowly stretching out my arms, I uncrossed my legs and stood up. ' _So good, ahh'_ went through my mind when I reached up towards the ceiling. The sun was shining into my room, seeing as it was early afternoon. Autumn was making its presence known and the first leaves were taking on a brown color. A small smile came across my lips, remembering my first autumn season when I finally returned back to my father. We were like two small kids, racking together the leaves into huge piles and jumping into them. Life was so much easier.

Kicking myself into gear, I decided to embarked on my daily walk per recommended by basically every writer of a baby book. Something with fresh air and movement helping the baby grow better and have an improved immune system. Regardless of the whole science thing behind it, I did daily walks of up to an hour. Grabbing my light coat and sliding on my boots, I locked up the house. Without even thinking, I walked around the house and went on the path I have trekked into the grass over the past weeks. It has become a routine of mine. And it led me straight to the meadow Alice had once showed me. But instead of pain it brought peace to my mind. Especially with everything else that has revolved around me and my pregnancy.

I ducked under a branch and thought about my father. The past weeks have been tough on him. Not only was his lesbian daughter, who dated one the doctor's children, pregnant but the bank was getting increasingly pesty. We weren't rich or anything, just an ordinary American middle-class family. Hence, we had a mortgage on our house. No issues for years: we were loyal customers of our bank and the branch manager knew Charlie by name. The future looked fine, just normal. We did not foresee sudden dips in the market.

Suddenly, extra payments were demanded. "It is all in the fine print Mr. Swan," they said. As if anyone read those; it is like the 'Terms and Agreement' of any internet page you sign up on- no one reads them. But there was nothing we could do besides swearing at them. It forced Charlie into overtime and still we barely made ends meet. And now add my pregnancy into the mix and things are naturally tense at home and financially. Not to mention that the pregnancy is not going 'as planned'.

I contemplated this as I was making my way through the beaten down path behind Charlie's house. Nausea set in 3 weeks following the disappearance act of the Cullens, one more week and the pregnancy was confirmed. So, in total 13 weeks have passed from 'inception'. I shuddered; the thought alone made me nauseous and I had to stop my slow trek through the forest. _"In and out. In and out."_ After I was able to calm my racing heart down again, I continued my slow walk.

Another 17 minutes and I reached a clearing, that oversaw downtown Forks. With the sun shining through the clouds, the town looked like a sleepy town out of a Disney movie. Bella stumbled across this clearing nearly 5 weeks ago and it has become her place of refuge. A small sigh escaped her and she slowly lowered herself down to the ground. Now growing lightly, Bella stretched out her limbs and rolled her shoulders. She then glanced down to what has occupied her every thought - her already fairly large baby bump.

It was almost double than what it was supposed to be, according to the information she read online and in her baby book collection. And again, her thoughts went back to that fateful night - it was the only explanation for her rapidly growing bump. It did freak her out at regular intervals, knowing what this meant. A human-vampire hybrid was growing in her.

For an hour Bella had sat there, resting with her arms around her bump, caressing it lightly. She loved her baby already. Yes, she was worried, down-right petrified at times considering that she had little knowledge of caring for a human, let alone a human-vampire hybrid! The topic had, naturally, never came up during her time spend with the Cullens. Clearly, it was progressing much more rapidly than a 'regular' human baby's development, as evident by her rapidly growing bump. How was the birth process? What will the baby eat - human food, blood, or a combination of both (the latter seemed more plausible to her)?

Bella slowly rose out of her mind and lazily let her eyes scan the area, wondering what shook her out of her head. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Contemplating that she would need to head back home soon, there it was again - a feeling just pricking at the back of her mind. Her hand stopped stroking her belly and alert eyes now scanned the clearing more thoroughly.

" _What on earth?"_ She thought.

Still seeing no danger to her or the baby, Bella nevertheless began getting to her feet. The uneasy feeling would not let her go and the previously peaceful clearing was filled with apprehension.

" _Let's get the hell out of here,"_ Bella thought and swiftly began making her way to the footpath when she froze in shock

"Hello darling. Long time no seen!" A cheery-sounding voice drawled behind her. Slowly turning around, and seeing a vampire she has not seen in months, two words came to her mind:

" _Oh shit!"_

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" **The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."**

 **\- H. P. Lovecraft**


	6. Chapter 5 - Behind these castle's walls

**Chapter 5: Behind these castle's walls**

" **The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need."**

 **\- Napoleon Bonaparte**

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 **Quite update (sorry no new chapter). Re: Guest comment - you are right, no bear can really come close to the University of Montreal. Mistake on my part - updated the chapter accordingly**

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Nearly 83 years later

Bella leisurely walks around Didyme's garden, taking into account the blaming of the roses.

" _They have truly outdone themselves this year,"_ she quietly mused to herself.

The Volturi Queen and her mate, Marcus, build the garden within the Volturi castle almost 300 years ago and since then have continuously expanded and improved it. A variety of flowers were arranged in a seemingly chaotic, yet beautiful way; from sunflowers, to Orchids and the elusive Tacca Integrifolia (more commonly known as the Bat Plant), the garden could easily compete with all the major florists worldwide. Roses, however, had always been Didyme's favorite; numerous varieties were spread throughout the garden. A heavy earthquake over 6 years ago, however, ended up not only damaging the Volturi castle but also wreaking havoc to the garden, in particular to the roses. The Queen was furious and everyone made sure to keep a 'safe' distance from her, less they wanted to be at the receiving end of one of her rants - the record stood at 3 days and 21 hours…

Bella continued to walk through the garden, having adopted a peaceful stroll speed similar to her human times. Following 3 more twists she reached her favorite part of the garden - the Orchids area. A smile graced her face and she slowly walked towards them, bending down to smell them and

" _Yes!"_ A female voice moaned in her head. _"Harder babe"_ , following by the image of Alec's face 'concentrating' and a slap resonated through the room. And Bella flew past the Orchids.

* * *

Racing down twisted hallways she barged into a room not too far from her quarters within the castle. In a split of a second, she analyzed the scene in front of her: Alec and the black-haired woman froze in shock. Bella snarled, grabbed Alec by the neck and threw him against the wall, baring her teeth at him. He black eyes bored into him while her hand squeezed hard enough for fine cracks to appear around his neck.

It took another second for him to focus on Bella, coming out of his lust-filled mind, and he now also bared his teeth at her. Eyes blazing with anger, she pushing him further into the wall; said wall was starting to crumble from the pressure applied against it, unable to withstand the strength of the vampires. She menacingly bared her teeth at Alec, with her nostrils flaring. " _How dare he hit and defile her…"_

"Mother!"

Bella did not reduce her pressure. In fact, she added her shield to the mix. Through her time at the Volturi, they realized that her mental shield could manifest itself into a physical one as well. Following years of hard training, she can now easily extent it for over one square kilometer and hold humans, vampires, and even objects at bay. It also made a great offensive weapon, rendering vampires useless from a safe distance.

"Seriously Mom, that is enough!" Bella's black eyes swirled to her right.

There stood her daughter Mackenzie, scowling at her while finishing tying the knot of her bathrobe. She stood just shy of 1.65m, and had black hair with a hint of brown shimmer running through it. While slender, it was clear to anyone who has been on a receiving end of a fight that she can hold her own against the majority of "pure" vampires. Her eyes were a dark green with 2 light brown rings around it, invisible to the naked human eye, but Bella could see all the little streaks running through Mackenzie's eyes. Right now, she also saw the disapproval, anger, and residual arousal.

Eyes locked onto each other, Mackenzie crossed her arms and fixed her mother with an unappreciative glare. Rolling her eyes, Bella fully turned around to face her daughter. While no longer physically touching Alec, she did not release him from her shield, and reciprocating the glare thrown at her.

Both could hear footsteps running towards them, and soon enough a couple of vampires entered the room. A tall boy with shoulder-length dirty blond hair entered first, followed by three female vampires. The first one had long, brown hair, that stopped midway down her back. Quickly taking in the scene, a smirk slowly broke out across her face. The same went for the blond-haired vampire next to her. Just as he was opening his mouth to comment on the situation, the pair was pushed aside roughly by a small blond.

"Release him now", Jane hissed at Bella, her red eyes darkening threateningly.

Bella, not one to take threats from anyone, barely acknowledged the entrance of the newcomers. Since her gift made her immune to both physical and mental gifts (Aro was absolutely delighted when it became apparent that her shield had a physical manifestation as well), rendering the threats hauled at her to small shriveled words.

That being said, Bella wasn't some weakling vampire - she trained hard with the guards, not being allowed to use her gift for protection. Furthermore, both shields manifest separately for Bella. The mental one is always around her, meaning she has to actively work on pulling it back into her body. That training session truly showed her why Jane was feared, despite the pain only lasting for mere seconds. Her physical shield, on the other hand, remains inside of her body and she needs to concentrate on pulling it out of herself. For both of them, she can expand them to incorporate/protect other vampires around her. Bella has gotten particularly good with her mental shield, being able to cover everyone in a radius of 500m. Her physical shield, however, remains stubborn and won't go further than 50m.

Jane hissed and began crouching down in an aggressive position. Rationally she knew that with the shield she couldn't touch Bella but she was seeing red (literally!). His twin was more or less being humiliated in front of numerous vampires, with the final vampire - Heidi - being unable to hide her chuckle of Alec's " _predicament_ ".

Bella remained unfazed and her attention was snapped back to her daughter. Mackenzie huffed and stalked towards her mother, her glare intensifying significantly. She was truly pissed for the interruption; not only because her bother was somewhat humiliating her mate but she was so close to an orgasm. And she just knew that Alec would withdraw, albeit only for a couple of days, but still! She was beyond sexually frustrated and pissed-off and her mother was going to face the brunt for it.

She stopped right in front of Bella. "Let. Him. Go", she said each word punctured with a finger jammed into her mother's chest.

Bella's nostrils flared with anger. Yes, she knew they were mates, having marked each other 17 years ago. Rationally she knew that Alec was a good guy, always attentive and treating her lovingly. In fact, of all the potential 'suitors' in the coven, she would have chosen him. Nevertheless, Bella clearly remembered the scene from just minutes ago with him slapping her daughter.

"No."

The eerily calm response was followed by a vicious growl and an umpf. Jane ran at Bella, hoping that with her attention directed at Mackenzie the shield would have wavered. However, such was not the case and Jane bounced back and smacked right into the wall on the opposite side. After the whole incident was passed, Heidi would remember the hilarity of seeing Jane flying through the air and crashing face-first into the wall.

Bella didn't spare a single glance to the crashing Jane whereas Mackenzie only fleetingly glanced at her mate's twin sister before staring back at her mother. By this point Bella had eased up on the force holding Alec against the wall, allowing him to cover his privates, yet still held forcibly against the wall. Surprisingly, he hasn't said a single word throughout this altercation. He almost appeared bored but internally he was fuming. Just like Mackenzie, he was close to his happy ending and, as such, was pissed for the interruption. He did recognize that there was nothing he could do and the approach his twin was taking was clearly not getting anywhere. His mate's mother would only let him down if she wanted to, so it was up to Mackenzie to talk her down. As such, he bid his time but he will have a word with his mate once they are alone - this cannot happen again!

On the outside, it looked like a staring match but both women were exchanging angry words via their mental link. Blocking out the other two, Mackenzie was effectively dressing Bella down for man-handling her mate in such a manner. Bella grudgingly accepted her daughter's words, knowing that she somewhat overreacted, given that what Mackenzie and her mate did in the bedroom was their own thing. In fact, Bella didn't want to know a single thing about what happened there - Mackenzie will always be her little girl!

Suddenly the pressure was gone around his neck, catching Alex by surprise and he stumbled a bit upon his landing. Jane was instantly by his side, checking for additional cracks besides the one around his neck. Mackenzie stared into her mothers' red eyes for a second longer and with a small nod, she slipped past her, making her way towards the closet in earth of a cape to cover Alec better.

This was the scenario that one of the lower guards found them. Teasingly nicknamed Hermes for having become the messenger for the Kings and Queens within the castle's walls, Gabriel's eyes bulged. One of the witch twins was naked while Jane was looking up and down. Bella was standing in the middle of the room, sending daggers in the direction of Alec while simultaneously looking angry and sheepishly. Heidi, Michael, and Alexandra were barely able to keep their snickering in check and Mackenzie was only covered in a robe. Not to mention that the entire room reeked of sex. What the hell are these people up to, he thought.

"Yes?" Bella snapped at Gabriel. She lowly growled at him upon noticing his wandering eye to her modestly covered daughter.

Snapping to attention, Gabriel straightened his back and addressed Bella.

"The Kings request your and your children's presence in the throne room," he formally stated. The piercing stare directed at him did not go unaffected and he began fidgeting.

Bella nodded and focused her attention back on her daughter, who was making her way towards Alec with a robe. Sensing his presence still at the doorway, she angrily turned her gaze back on him. Before being able to chew him out, Michael got in his face. Gabriel couldn't contain his yelp and swiftly excused himself. Although twice as old as the human-vampire hybrid, all of Bella's children were fierce fighters with powerful gifts themselves.

* * *

After another half an hour of bickering, the Bella and her children made it finally arrived in front of the closed doors leading to the throne room where the Kings and Queens held their audiences and sentencing. The door stood at an impressive 3 meters tall and was elegantly ornated with various precious metals. Bella, at the forefront of the group, knocked on the door and waited for them to open. Yes, these were mechanical doors that opened at the click of a remote. Aro's childlike personality shone through with this installation and any vampire simply opening the door manually (as has been the custom) was severely punished.

Bella was pulled out of her thoughts with the door slowly opening, showing the three Volturi Kings and Queens sitting in their thrones, elevated by a stone step of early 1 meter and stairs leading down to the ground. Even in their seated position, they would be towering over any vampire. Everything was a mind game and this set-up further elevated their position over the vampire world - literally.

The group made their way across the open space and came to a standstill in front of the Kings and Queens. Bella stood in the center with Michael and Alex to her left. The freshly showered and still sulking McKenzie stood to her right. All four bowed their heads out of respect and looked straight at Aro, the unofficial leader of the Kings.

He was on the same footing as Caius and Marcus but being the most extravagant and excited about meeting new people, in part due to his gift, he became the spokesperson of the Volturi. Outside of the guards, vampires have mistakenly taken his vocal and constant involvement as being the head of the royalty and above both Caius and Marcus. No-one saw it necessary to correct the notion; Caius, the military strategist, preferred it to be underestimated and it allowed him an unobstructed opportunity to observe and study the vampires entering through these walls, whereas Marcus simply didn't care. He knew his place within the trio and maintained the respect of the guards.

"My kings, my queens," Bella addressed the 6 vampires respectfully. Refocusing on Aro, she saw him excitingly looking at her.

"Princesses and prince, it is lovely to see you again," Aro stated happily. I am glad you could find your way to the throne room, given the recent… excitement."

Clearly, he was already informed of at least part of what has happened. Michael couldn't suppress his snort and Alex barely contained her chuckle. McKenzie furiously snapped at them through the mind link. Following 10 seconds of internal bickering, Bella finally shushed them.

"You called for us, my king?" Bella replied evenly, albeit her eyes briefly flashed with annoyance when thinking about what had just transpired 45 minutes ago. She was unwilling to engage in such a conversation with anyone, especially with her daughter still pissed at her intervention. This was neither the place nor the time to discuss the 'shudder' sex life of her daughter, she reasoned.

Aro knew that he won't get anything out of the four vampires in front of him. Given their mental gift, he couldn't even find out using his! Bella and her children from the very beginning made it clear that they were fierce protectors of their thoughts. Initially, they didn't know how to pull back the mental shield. It took years to practice this form and he remembered it was Jane's favorite day by far. Having been thawed to 'discipline' them, practicing with them to withdraw their shield and utilizing it on them as part of 'training' had her excited for weeks and months to come. Not that it happened ever again…

Aro mused it was rather brilliant to have shields in his guard. Beyond the vast military potential, which Caius went on and on about for weeks, it added another layer of protection for the kings. If they were unsure about the intentions of vampires visiting them, Bella would be asked to stand with them and expand her shield to protect the Kings and guards. While Aro did not suspect an assassination attack any time soon, he wasn't naive to think that no one would attempt it in the future. Training-wise, it allowed vampires to practice their skills. Some did rely too heavily on their gift and ring presented with a shield meant that they had to realize that their fighting skills weren't up to par as they were in the past. It was a harsh awakening for a number of his guards, including bruised egos. In the end, it forced them to work hard and hone their rustic skills, improving the level overall.

A grunt from his left shook Aro out of his internal musings. Caius was clearly unimpressed with Aro spacing out, with the latter looking a bit sheepishly down at the 4 vampires (well, 1 vampire, 3 hybrid vampires) patiently waiting for him to continue. Naturally everyone realized that he spaced out but no one dared to comment on it. Aro was known for often being lost in his thoughts, particularly after having 'read' another vampire's mind; he would mull over the information he had gathered and categorize it somewhere in the vast array of knowledge swirling around his brain. And this could take some time.

"Bella et al. I have asked you down here due to an urgent matter. Over the past weeks and months, a suspicious number of people have disappeared in Ontario, Canada. In particular, we have seen a spike in in the disappearances of students attending the Nipissing University."

Unlike what is commonly believed, the Volturi did not have spies all across the world. In fact, the coven was only about 53 vampires strong, accepting only gifted and talented individuals into its ranks. While members do regularly travel to visit other covens, transport a message, track down fugitives, or simply for leisure, the Volturi was rather dependent on outsiders to supply them with information. Naturally, that information was kept under tight wraps. It served them well to be viewed as omnipresent, keeping the other vampires in line.

Another unlikely outcome of this 'deficit' was that the Volturi eagerly embraced technology and the digitalization of the world. Yes, they lived in a nearly thousand-year-old castle but they did splurge on the benefits of the digital world. Being immortal does have it downsides and boredom is a constant companion. With the invention of PlayStation, televisions, radio, and online gaming, their lives have significantly improved. Felix is the reigning eSports champion of World of Warcraft, the No.1 that fans have been trying to identify for over 8 years now. Soon his character will have to die, as a way to not continue draw attention to it and risk potentially exposing themselves.

Similarly, to the entertainment factor, the rapid and non-stop news cycle allows the Volturi a great overview of global activity. Sudden spikes in deaths that are difficult to explain by local authorities signal to the leadership that there might be a rogue vampire. Bella mused that something alike must have happened for this situation.

"Human authorities so far were unable to link them together and, rather, see a number of them as individual cases. With bears being nearby, they naturally blamed them a number of the disappearances on them."

"However, this is not all." Bella and the three children peaked up and even more attentive. Aro's tone and pitch had change; the last statement was said in a somber and apprehensive tone. This must be quite serious for him to speak in such a manner.

"Just today we have received an audience from a vampire who claims that he has seen a werewolf."

And the entire room froze. Just like humans, vampires had little twirks and habits of movement. But with Aro's statement every single vampire tensed up and stared at their leader with surprise. Caius' face was murderous and everyone could hear his heavy grinding of the teeth. He despised werewolves with a passion; following a nearly deadly encounter over 500 years ago (his entire upper body was mangled and still bears deep craters from the teeth and gashes by the beast's claws that nearly ripped him in half), Caius was at the forefront in hunting these beasts to extinction.

However, despite their best efforts, the Volturi has come to know only a couple of decades ago that they, did not in fact, eradicate the world of this abomination. As it became clear, the older a werewolf gets, the more control it actually got over its impulses. While never completely able to control them like vampires and shapeshifters, these older werewolves can control their younger ones rather efficiently. And like all supernatural beings - the older, the stronger and more powerful they get.

It was by pure chance that the Volturi discovered a 7-wolf strong pack in the northern parts of Siberia. Jane alongside two young recruits (Melvyn and Dani) were send to investigate a minor infringement by a coven living in Siberia. Traveling through the inhumane wilderness, they came across a smell unlike anything. Dani and Melvyn were confused about the smell but Jane felt like she was hit by a 20 Ton truck. She even tripped over her feet and somersaulted through the snow. She was too stunned to do anything for nearly 3 minutes, with the worry of her two companions growing exponentially. Finally, she dragged herself from the ground and they carefully followed the smell. It led them directly to the pack, including 4 fully-grown werewolves and three little ones.

Since then the Volturi had restarted its campaign against the beasts. Caius was livid and destroyed his room and the training room, after his mate threw him out. Caius also led the campaign personally against the Siberian clan and was furious to learn that Aro wanted to capture the leader alive and question him in Volturi. However, what they didn't anticipate was the personal sacrifice they would make to protect each other - to date not a single werewolf had been captured alive, willing to rather die or even slash its own throat to avoid capture.

Aro looked around the room and saw the shocked faces of everyone and the tension behind their masks. He shifted his eyes back to the 4 vampires in front of him and saw realization and determination in their eyes. They had established themselves among the best of the elite within the Volturi guard, initially causing some friction among members who have been part for hundreds of years. That problem, however, was easily sorted - by having to fight against them, one by one the older vampires were beaten and shamed for trying to go up against the newcomers. It is sufficed to say that they had earned their spot.

He speaks: "Your mission is to go to Nipissing University and to see what is happening. Bella, you are to head the mission to locate the group of werewolves, and I expect regular updates from you. I do not need to stress the urgency of this mission to you - failure is no option! You leave after the day of tomorrow, everything is currently being arranged including housing and university attendance."

And with that the vampires were dismissed to pack and prepare for their mission up to the cold lands of Canada.

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" **Danger gleams like sunshine to a brave man's eyes"**

 **\- Euripides**

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 **Hi everyone, thank you for your patience! 1-2 more chapters and we are introdoucing the Cullens (at least that is the plan at the moment - we shall see where the sriting takes me ;)**

 **jh831 - don't we all! I have stories that I am following where the last update was over 5 years ago. Alas, one was just completed after no updates for 6-7 years! Check out "Age doesn't matter in Love' from XxKelleyxX (all human but I really enjoyed the story - which reminds me, I need to leave a comment).**

 **Have a nice weekend everyone and happy holidays!**


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